Michigan’s Gun Lake Tribe seeks to put about 1,200 acres near its Gun Lake Casino into trust so it can build a project that will include retail stores, health care, housing and manufacturing, according to a report by MiBiz.
The tribe, also known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, has been buying up large swaths of property along U.S. 131 in Allegan County for many years. The land runs along 2.75 miles of the highway, according to Monica King, chief executive officer of Gun Lake Investments, the tribe’s investment arm.
The tribe has begun a six-month planning phase, said King.
“The planning phase will really be about figuring out what are our constraints and opportunities, and what we can target first,” King said. “This is really a 25-year-plus project and will be such a huge project. We really do need to make sure we get everyone involved. … Twelve-hundred acres is so significant and it will be its own ecosystem. We do have a couple of projects (in the development) that we want to fast track and that we hope to break ground on next year.”
The development will include a 15-story hotel that will complement the casino, but the project will not be centered on gaming. The goal, said King, is to attract families to the area.
“We really want to make that corridor a destination,” she said.
A fraction of the land for the project is currently held in trust by the U.S. Department of the Interior. More that the tribe owns will need to be placed into trust for it to become a reality. That is a process that can take months or years but making the land sovereign Indian territory makes it easier to plan and execute.
Businesses that operate on tribal land don’t have to pay state taxes or follow county or state zoning and regulations. It also greases the skids when the same authority has the final say—making it easier for businesses to plan and negotiate.
Some of the project can happen on non-trust land the tribe owns, King told MiBiz. Unusually, for a tribal development, the Gun Lake Tribe is also mulling an industrial element, such as manufacturing and warehouses, which in Western Michigan is in short supply. This could meet a need for new, expanding companies.
To do that, the tribe would need to identify land that has access to utilities. It is already in talks with the city of Wayland to provide electrical, water and sewer to some parcels.
The development is an example of a growing, more common phenomenon, which involves gaming tribes diversifying into non-gaming sectors.
American Indian law attorney Fred Schubkegel told MiBiz, “Tribes are definitely getting into non-gaming development more because they know they need to diversify, and most of them are long-play holders,” Schubkegel said. “They want to hold for seven generations. This is their home and they feel a real fiduciary responsibility.”
Regarding the six-month planning process, King told MiBiz, “We do plan to engage community partners along the way and the initial conversations have been very positive,” which will include “funding scenarios” for the project. It is working with Lakeshore Advantage Corp. on this aspect of the project.
Tribal Chairman Bob Peters said the planning process will include incorporating the tribe’s culture and aesthetic into anything that is built.
“A lot of it is tied to our culture and came from speaking to our membership, and will include native plants, native languages and architecture,” he said. “It is still a work in progress. We’re anxious and excited to see how everything comes together.”
